Mint Credit Center FAQ's

Looking for answers? Check out the most popular questions below.

What is Mint Credit Monitor?

Mint Credit Monitor is a Mint product that helps you understand your credit information while also helping you better protect your identity. Credit scores and/or reports are becoming increasingly important and are used in a variety of situations from getting a mortgage to renting an apartment and even in job applications. Moreover, understanding your credit information can help you better protect yourself against identity theft, which affects millions of Americans per year.

What is a credit bureau?

Credit bureaus, or credit reporting agencies, collect and report consumer credit information. When you apply for credit, they provide credit information to creditors. There are three nationwide credit bureaus: Equifax®, Experian®, and TransUnion®.

How do the credit bureaus obtain information?

Lenders and creditors report information about their consumer accounts to the credit bureaus. Lenders and creditors decide which credit bureaus they report to.

Do all three credit bureaus have the same information on file?

No, due to the fact that different lenders send information to some bureaus and not the others. Credit reports are available from three nationwide reporting agencies: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion, and these bureaus do not exchange information with each other. Therefore each of them may have different information, depending on which lenders and creditors report to them.

Who can look at my credit report?

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) specifies who can access consumer credit reports and for what purposes. Some examples include companies who wish to make informed decisions about the likelihood you will repay debts on time or that you will be a good hire.

How long does information stay in my credit report?

Generally, negative information such as late or missed payments, accounts that have been sent to collections, accounts not being paid as agreed, and certain bankruptcies stays on credit reports for approximately seven years. Generally, positive information, such as credit accounts being paid as agreed stay on credit reports for as long as they are active and being reported by the lender. Accounts that were closed in good standing, generally stay on credit reports for up to 10 years from the date they are reported to a bureau by the lender as closed.

Why should I check my credit report?

Just as you have medical and dental check-ups periodically, so should you check your credit report. Knowing what is in your credit reports can help you understand your likelihood of obtaining credit and can also help you spot signs of possible identity theft.
Lenders look at your credit history to help them assess your creditworthiness. It is to your advantage to know what your credit report says about you before applying for credit so you can correct any inaccurate data.
It is also important for you to understand that with the rise in identity theft, you may not know that someone has assumed your identity or opened new accounts until they default on loans, and creditors or collection agencies start calling you.

How often should I check my credit reports?

With the explosive growth of identity theft, experts recommend checking your credit reports on a regular basis. That way, when there's a change you don't recognize, you can take steps to halt what could be illegal pilfering of your personal information.

What should I look for in my credit report?

It is important to frequently review your credit file to verify the following:

Name

Address

Social Security number

Date of Birth

All accounts contained within the report are accounts of which you are aware

Credit/Charge Accounts

Payment histories

Derogatory credit information has been deleted after seven years (non-chapter 13 bankruptcies after 10 years)

Inquiries

What if I spot an error on my credit report?

If something doesn't look familiar, contact our Customer Care Agents at 1.866.373.7830 They will help you determine if you are a victim of identity theft and take the necessary steps to help you restore your identity. Because you may not always recognize the information at first, it is important to carefully review your credit report and alerts. Your credit report may contain information from joint accounts that you hold or loans that you co-signed with a family member or business partner. Sometimes, your credit alerts may seem like they represent something that happened a long time ago. This delay or repetition of information can happen when a creditor sells or transfers your account to another lender, or starts to report your information to a different credit bureau.

What is in a credit report?

A credit report is a summary of your credit history, and certain other information, reported to credit bureaus by your lenders and creditors. Potential creditors and lenders use credit reports as part of their decision-making process to decide whether to extend you credit — and at what terms. Your credit report may also be used by other companies, such as rental or insurance companies, in helping them make risk decisions. For these reasons, it's important to check your credit reports regularly to ensure the information in them is correct.
There are three major credit bureaus – Equifax, TransUnion and Experian – all of which maintain consumer credit reports. Your credit reports may not be identical with each of the three bureaus, as some lenders may report information to one or two of them -- or none at all -- instead of all three.
Your Equifax credit report contains four types of information:

Identifying information. This section of your Equifax credit report includes personal information, such as your name, address, Social Security number, and date of birth. The identifying information contained in your Equifax credit report is not used to calculate credit scores.

Credit accounts, also known as “tradelines.” Your Equifax credit report lists your current and past credit accounts, also known as "tradelines," as reported by your lenders and creditors. Tradelines generally contain information on the type of account (for example, a credit card, mortgage, student loan, or auto loan), the date you opened the account, your credit limit or loan amount, the account balance, and your payment history.

Inquiry information. This section includes information about the companies that have pulled a copy of your Equifax credit report, sometimes known as an “inquiry.” There are two types of inquiries that you may find listed in your Equifax credit report: “soft” inquiries and “hard” inquiries. “Soft” inquiries may include your own requests for your credit history, inquiries by companies extending you preapproved offers for credit cards, or inquiries made by your current creditors who wish to perform a review of your credit (also known as “account monitoring”). “Soft” inquires are only visible to you and not to potential lenders or creditors. “Hard” inquiries occur when a potential lender reviews your credit history because you have applied for credit such as a new loan or credit card. These may remain on your Equifax credit report for 24 months. While “hard” inquiries do impact credit scores, “soft” inquiries do not.

Bankruptcies and collection information. Bankruptcies and past-due accounts that have been turned over to a collection agency, including accounts with doctors, hospitals and cable companies, could also be included in your Equifax credit report.

What is Credit Monitoring?

Credit monitoring watches over your credit file(s) and alerts you to key changes or updates. Changes and updates to your credit reports are as a result of lenders and businesses passing on information to the three credit bureaus—Equifax®, Experian® and TransUnion®. Our credit monitoring feature checks your credit information on a daily basis, and if we find key new additions or changes, you receive an email requesting you to log in to your account to view the details. Due to security reasons, we cannot share the details of the alert in the email. When you log in to your account, you will be able to see the alert details and verify the information is correct.

What do my credit score numbers mean?

550? 725? 680? What does your credit score mean? What goes into having good credit, fair credit, and bad credit? See what your credit score tells lenders. This information is based on the most commonly used credit scoring formulas:

Excellent Credit

Credit score above 760

Excellent credit risk

Long credit history

Multiple established credit and loan accounts

No negative public records

Qualifies you for the best deals

Very Good Credit

Credit score between 725 and 759

Very low credit risk

Credit accounts paid on time each month

Qualifies you for some of the lowest rate

Good Credit

Credit score between 660 and 724

Low credit risk

May have had late payments in the past

All accounts are currently paid on time

Standard amount of credit card debt

Qualifies you for competitive interest rates and terms

Fair Credit

Credit score between 560 and 669

Moderate credit risk

May have older negative public records

May have higher credit card debt balances

May have too many applications for new credit

Qualifies you for decent rates, but not the best available

Bad Credit

Credit score between 280 and 559

High credit risk

May have high amounts of credit card debt

May have late payments, collections, or bankruptcy records

May have not been using credit cards and loans regularly

Difficult to be approved for standard credit products

Qualifies you to be approved for accounts tailored to people with no credit or bad credit

What is the Score Simulator/Score Calculator?

The Score Simulator is a powerful tool to help you determine how your actions can affect your score -- both for better and worse. There are two options for simulating how certain actions might affect your score:

The Score Simulator/Score Calculator presents several possible actions for you to choose from, and then simulates how taking that action might affect your score. Keep in mind that the results of different simulations are not necessarily cumulative. In other words, taking two separate actions, each of which could impact your score 20 points, does not necessarily mean that your score will change by 40 points.

You can access the score simulator when you login to your account.

How is my credit score tracked?

Score monitoring products track your score over time based on changes to your credit score. You will receive alerts to advise you of changes to your score based on the alert preferences you have set. Your score changes are trended so that you can easily see the changes from month to month.

Why haven't I received a credit monitoring alert for my recent credit activity?

Most lenders report account activity within 30 days, but some can take as long as 90 days. Also, some creditors may only report to one or two of three nationwide consumer reporting agencies -- Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion or none at all. If your creditor doesn't report to all three, then you will not receive an alert from all three for the same activity. If you would like more information about a specific creditor's reporting practices, call your lenders and ask which consumer reporting agencies they report to, and how often.

It's important to monitor your credit files at all three bureaus - to ensure you're aware of every change on your credit file(s). You should also check your spam folder in your mail program to make sure your alerts are not getting caught in your spam folder.

How do I cancel my Mint Credit Monitor subscription?

You may cancel at any time by calling our Protection Specialists at 1.866.373.7830. Please note that for security reasons we cannot process any cancellation requests via email. You may cancel at any time, but, unfortunately, we do not offer partial monthly refunds. Once you cancel your subscription, your protection features will immediately become inactive, and you will no longer be able to log into your account. Your personal information will be purged from our system within 90 days.

What is Identity Theft Resolution?

Identity Theft Restoration assists individuals who have become victims of identity theft. Identity theft is a crime in which an imposter obtains key pieces of personal information, such as Social Security or driver's license numbers, in order to impersonate another person.

How do I take advantage of the Identity Theft Resolution?

If you believe that you may be a victim of Identity Theft, you can call the toll free number provided in the Member Portal to obtain assistance from a Restoration Specialist. You will be assigned a dedicated Restoration Specialist who will educate you during the restoration process. The Specialist will provide you with documents that need to be completed to initiate the restoration process. These documents include a limited power of attorney that legally authorizes the Restoration Specialist the ability to work on your behalf.

What types of identity theft can I obtain assistance for?

The types of identity theft that you can obtain assistance with include banking/credit cards, investment/retirement, loans, utilities, healthcare, taxes, housing and more.